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your food (a) ; I have used it a long time, and it is decidedly the best I have

had.


Everyone is surprised when I tell them I had him on the 6th Sept.,

1890 — nearly eight years ago — and his song is more powerful now than ever.


My course of feeding is, in the morning about two teaspoonsful of

your food mixed with a little bread-crumb and scraped carrot or swede-

turnip — carrot for preference — and four mealworms ; then at midday, a little

raw beef, scraped ; a few spiders if he seems a little seedy ; a rusty nail in

his water, and a little saffron when in the moult.


He enjoys a bath now and then, and when he does not bathe I always

see that his feet are kept clean.


Yours very truly,


W. DONAI^DSON.



MAGPIES.


Sir,— I should be nmch obliged to any member of the Council who

would give me some information about keeping and feeding Magpies in

captivitJ^


Would it be better to have only one, or a pair.?


I have a shed with weather-proof roof and wire front, which I think

would be a comfortable home for a bird of this kind, or for a pair if they

would be happier. I was obliged to give up keeping small birds in it, as

the mice, and sometimes rats, persisted in visiting them, and although,

strange to say, they did no harm to the birds, I was afraid they might do so.


Would it be necessary to have anything done to keep out rats and

mice supposing I had Mkgpies ? There is no floor to the shed, it is only

gravelled. E. E. WEST.



The following reply was sent to Miss West.


You do not give the size of your shed, but if it is fairly large — say

10 or 12 feet square — a pair of Magpies ought to get on well enough, if

properly attended to. If it is much smaller, however, it would be best to

keep one bird only, as two might fight. If you keep two together, it would

be best to have a true pair, as they might disagree if both of the same sex.


With regard to food. Magpies are practically omnivorous : meat,

grain, vegetables, and fruit being readily eaten ; while their partialit)^ to

eggs and young birds has caused the death of countless numbers at the

hands of game preservers. In captivit)', therefore, they are very easily

catered for ; all scraps from the table should be collected and given to them,

and soaked dog-biscuit will be found useful. Magpies are very fond of

bathing, and a plentiful supply of clean water should be provided for the

purpose in a shallow trough. When reared from the nest they make

delightful pets and are most tame and amusing, and I don't see why a pair

suitably housed should not nest in captivity.


Rats should certainly be kept away, and I should strongly advise you

to have a thin floor of concrete — say 3 inches — put down, if you are


(a). Mr. Arthur's Food appears to be very similar to that made by Mr. Abrahams.

All such foods contain a good deal of preserved egg, and some ants' eggs — fastidious

feeders like Nightingales pick out the egg and ants' eggs and leave nearly all the rest— at

least, that is my experience. — H. R. F.



